NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Michael Eisner, the outgoing CEO of Walt Disney Co., is known for his combative style while his hand-picked successor, Robert Iger, has been described as a consensus-builder.

On Wednesday, Iger revealed publicly that he too has a feisty side.

Speaking to analysts during a conference call after Disney reported earnings, Iger responded to a question about a recent lawsuit filed over his selection as the Disney's next chief by saying he's spoken to company employees and everyone is "fed up" with the constant carping by company critics.

"They want the rhetoric to end and they want to concentrate on what they do best," said Iger.

Iger's pugnacity comes two days after former Disney directors and current shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold challenged Iger's promotion in a lawsuit that claims Disney's current board of directors misled them about its search for a new CEO. The dissidents want to void the company's recent directors' election and are demanding that the company release information about its search.

The question about the lawsuit -- and its potential impact -- was directed generally at the three Disney executives who hosted Wednesday's analyst call. Iger spoke up first.

Iger has reason to be dismissive.

After years of lackluster growth, Disney is on a roll. The world's second-largest media company reported second-quarter earnings and revenues Wednesday afternoon that beat Wall Street estimates.

Disney's three-largest divisions -- its California and Florida theme parks, the ABC television and cable networks, and its Buena Vista movie studio -- all posted healthy gains compared to last year's quarter. Total revenues for the quarter ended April 2 came to $7.8 billion, a 9 percent increase. Net income jumped 30 percent, to $689 million.

Despite the solid numbers, Disney investors were unimpressed. Disney (Research) stock was up only slightly in after-hours trading.

Media stocks generally are having a rough 2005 so far as investors remain listless about growth prospects for major players like Time Warner (Research), Viacom (Research), News Corp (Research)., and Disney. Hoping to spur investor interest, Viacom and Clear Channel Communications, (Research) the country's largest radio operator, announced separately within recent weeks that they are considering breaking their businesses up into separate companies.

More than any of its rivals, Disney's fortunes are tied to the U.S. economy and there have been signs recently of a slowdown that could be holding investors back.

Katherine Styponias, an analyst with Prudential Equity Group, noted in a research report sent after the company's earnings were released that Disney faces key risks that are largely beyond its control. They include terrorist threats, global conflicts, the inherent unpredictability of the movie business, and the state of the economy.

"If the current (U.S. economic) recovery is not sustainable, it could adversely affect earnings results, estimates and/or price target," wrote Styponias.

In the short-term, analysts were hard-pressed to detect any warning signs in Disney's financials. Chief Financial Officer Thomas Skaggs pledged once again that Disney was on track to deliver double-digit earnings growth in 2005 and through 2007 "at least."

One result that a few analysts flagged: Disney said that home video sales overseas slowed in the quarter compared to a year ago, even as domestic sales increased. The DVD slate included the animation hit "The Incredibles" and a re-release of the classic, "Bambi."

The sign of softening growth followed by a day a troubling financial report from DreamWorks Animation (Research). The studio, in its third earnings announcement since going public last fall, fell far short of Wall Street estimates and blamed heavy returns from retailers of "Shrek 2" digital video disks (DVDs), which eliminated any booking of video revenue in the quarter.

"Shrek 2" is still one of the top 10 best selling DVDs, according to Scott Hettrick, the editor-in-chief of DVD Exclusive. DreamWorks simply missed sales estimates by about 5 million.

Still, DreamWorks stock got pummeled after the news and finished Wednesday down 12 percent, to $32.05.

Did a green ogre and a venerable mouse signal a disturbing trend about DVD sales, which reached about $16 billion last year?

Analysts have long predicted that DVD growth rates would slow and that pricing pressures would hurt revenues.

DVDs have been "a huge cash cow for the studios and it will remain a pretty valuable revenue stream," said Porter Bibb, managing partner at MediaTech Capital, a private merchant bank that specializes in media and technology. "But it won't remain as lucrative as it has in the past."

That said, the DVD market is huge despite cooling growth rates, according to Hettrick.

Hettrick said the DVD sales and rental market is on track to post double-digit growth in 2005. Last year it was a $24 billion business, with two-thirds of that from sales.

"The DVD sector isn't going away, shrinking, or about to collapse," said Hettrick. DreamWorks' "Shrek 2" woes and Disney's decline in overseas sales were "two isolated instances."

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